Blind Faith
by Garowyn
Summary: Peace and understanding takes time. Mirai Trunks’ thoughts on his father, Vegeta.


**A/N: I do not own DBZ. A big thank you to my beta-reader Super-Veggie-San!**

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Father...

You have so much pride, so much anger, and so much anguish inside of you. Your pride was your downfall in the battle against Cell, after he became perfect. I don't know if it had started to become clear to you in those last moments before you were knocked unconscious, that you wouldn't be able to defeat Cell. What I do know, is that you weren't ready to give up, to give in, and to admit failure, to admit that you were wrong. No. You continued to battle, to give it your all. I admired the courage and the strength you showed, determined to keep going, the way you refused to go down appearing weak. Such is the pride of a Saiyan Prince, one of the last full-blooded beings of a fallen race.

But my admiration only goes so far.

I remember the time spent in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It was just you and I, father and son, Prince, and I guess, Crown Prince. We were in there of course to train for the upcoming confrontation with Cell. The entire year seemed liked an eternity, especially when I literally had to experience the raging fire inside of you, and sometimes the freezing coldness of your words and emotions. It was the most difficult thing I've ever had to face in all my years of life.

I know you wanted to be the best, to be take your rightful place as the most powerful of all Saiyans. I know you hated being in Goku's shadow. You wanted to be second to none. I understand that. Everyone has a desire to prove himself or herself, to not be left in the dust while another reaches a higher level in whatever is being pursued. And I also know that you wanted to do it by yourself. Alone; without any help from someone. Dad, you're a loner, a person who seeks solitude, and not only that, but ultimate power.

While that may suit you, it leaves people who care for you, helpless and hurt. My mother, my younger self, and maybe even my grandparents. Heh, even Goku, a happy-go-lucky Saiyan, a rare thing, who just wants put aside the past and be friends. But I know you never let anyone get close to you. I think the only person who has seen beneath your hardened exterior is my mother, Bulma. However, maybe she hasn't seen everything. Like I said, you have never allowed anyone to see what lies underneath the prideful, yet arrogant and forbidding demeanor you hold. You trust no one, because to you, that's how it's always been. Someone might stab you in the back.

Well, father, I want you to know that I, mom, and my chibi self will never do that to you. We care for you-I love you, dad! In my timeline, you don't exist, at least not after I'm born. You were killed by one of the Androids and as a result, I never knew you. As I grew up, raised only by mom, and trained by my sensei Gohan, I always dreamed of you, wondering who you were exactly, what you were like, and how brave and strong you must've been. My greatest wish was to see you, to hear you, to know you! It was hard seeing other kids my age with their fathers. They were still alive. But I had something that they didn't have: a warrior father. I take great pride in knowing that, and I strive to become a great warrior as well, to follow in your footsteps. To a son, a father is one of the most important things in his life.

You died trying to save the earth as much as you despised it. And you know what I think? I think you helped out anyway because of the family you had formed even if you stubbornly refuse to admit it. Mom loves you a lot and she misses you. I am speaking of the Bulma in my timeline. She told me a lot about you, as much as she could. And I can see in your timeline that the Bulma there cares a lot about you as well.

If only you could see it and understand it. That's what pains me. In the hyperbolic time chamber, I saw you being engulfed by flames. I forgot about my own safety; all I could think about was getting to you and saving you! I didn't want you to die-I don't want you to die at all. Or even hurt yourself. But you struck me down both physically and emotionally. You insisted that you didn't need my help, that you train alone. I knew you would reach your goal of going beyond the power of a Super Saiyan.

I love you father but sometimes I detest you more than anything else. I tried to help. You know, I even had to go and save my mom and my younger self from danger because you wouldn't. You were too proud. Do you know how much it wounds me when you don't care? I often wonder if you really don't care at all, that you're not just putting up a mask to cover your hidden and true feelings. When I saw you for the first time in my life, I remember asking myself, is this really my father? A scowl was always visible on your face obviously signifying your annoyance. I was even ready to fight you if I had to, if it meant saving the entire earth. Yes, I was willing to stand up to you.

Father I know you had not achieved the level of Super Saiyan when I first arrived. Yet that is. Were you...jealous of me? You probably were. It's only natural. Ironic though...you didn't know I was your son, that you were one of the main reasons I could attain such a level. It was because I had the blood of a Saiyan running through my veins; your blood.

So I put up with your attitude and your demands throughout that entire year in the time chamber. I persisted through all the emotional torture, endured the harsh physical training, and held my own when we fought each other as part of our training. I know you didn't really like my presence being in there with yours. But father, I only wanted to spend a little time with you. In doing so, I was able to fill that empty space in my heart that had been reserved for you, even though you yourself and your words tore at my heartstrings at certain times. Nevertheless, no one will ever take your place in my heart.

All I ever wanted from the day met you, the only desire I had from then on, was to make you proud. I wanted you to see that I, Trunks Vegeta Briefs, am your son. I wanted to increase my strength and grow in power so that you could see me as your equal, and not as a nuisance. You don't know how encouraged I was, how happy I felt, to hear Yamcha tell me about what you did after Cell killed me.

It was then that I knew how you truly felt about me. Even that one gesture of farewell you gave before I left to my own timeline, meant a lot to me. It is something I will always treasure, as well as the memory of what I'd been told of your noble attempt to finish Cell.

So I may not see your true feelings or even hear them. But at least I know that you do care a little and that's enough for me. I am content now, glad that I had the chance of meeting you and changing the future so that the world may live in peace with brighter days ahead of them.

I am honored to be your son, and unashamed to call you my father.


End file.
